Page 29 - Anna Doxie first new format

AAA assured us that someone would come to help ASAP. punishments−anything that might help the poor parent who
ASAP turned out to be over an hour. In the freezing wind, is dreading a family trip with a teenager. Together, we may
it took the poor mechanic another hour to get the lug nuts save a parent’s sanity!
off and change the tire. We huddled inside, snacked, and
tried to stay warm without running the heater too much. So, until next time, keep traveling with
The teenage grumbling grew louder. Once the mechanic your teens!
finished, my husband cranked the cold engine, and we
drove the few hundred feet to the dump station.

The guys performed the gross dumping task as the
temperature dropped into the single digits and flurries
swirled around them. They climbed back into the rig eager
to warm up, return to our space, and enjoy a hot dinner. San Diego....
So naïve. When my husband turned the key, nothing
happened. Absolutely nothing. No engine, no lights, no
heater, no generator, no microwave. Everything was dead.
We were stranded at the dump station, which now felt as
cold, dark, and isolated as the Moon.

When the same mechanic came to rescue us again an hour
later, our teens were mortified. We would probably never
see this man again in our lives, but that fact didn’t lessen
their embarrassment. I must admit he did seem to find a
morbid humor in our predicament, and I can only imagine
the tales he later told about the dimwit RV folks stuck
beside the dump hole. By the time the mechanic performed
his magic, we were all cold and starved, to say nothing of
grumpy. We carefully drove a few snowy blocks to a fast-
food restaurant where we ate dinner inside the RV with the
engine running for fear we might otherwise spend the night
stranded in the parking lot. Calling AAA a third time in one
night was not an option. San Diego Woman

When we left
Mammoth,
everyone 29
was eager to
get back to
civilization.
The drive
down the
mountain was as harrowing as the trip up. Our daughter
popped her Dramamine and drifted off to Never Never
Land. Our son’s ATTITUDE and caustic comments were
enough to set his parents’ teeth on edge.

Our teens never forgave or forgot the misadventures of that
trip. Every subsequent RV trip was an adventure, but that
one was the worst. In defense of the RV, the problems were
always “operator error.” Those pesky owner manuals just California Tower -
never got read. But, we are no longer naïve. The RV is for
sale. Museum of Man at

Yes, our family has traveled extensively, but we haven’t Balboa Park
done it all. That is why I need your help. I would love to
hear from you, at the above e-mail address, about your
travel experiences with your teens. Tell me about your best
trip and your worst, but especially explain why the trips
turned out that way. Tell me your ideas, gimmicks, threats,
March/April 2008